Zipper stringers



Dec. 6, 1960 J. P. MONAHAN ZIPPER sTRINGERs Filed Nov. '7, 1958 INVENTOR James P Monahan TTORNEY 2,9 63,047 ZIPPER STRINGERS James P. Monahan, Derby, Conn., assignor to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed No'v. 7, 19sv8,ser.1-to.772,429` vs Claims. (criss-384) My invention relates to zipper stringers and more particularly is an improvement dealing with one of the tapes of a zipper of the kind used in trouser flies.

In attaching zippers in the flies of trousers, it is wellknown that it is desirable to curve the bottom portion of the zipper toward the right as viewed from the front of the garment. The attachment of the left Stringer to the left y piece requires the forcing of a curve into the bottom portion of the zipper while it is being sewn in place. Zipper tapes are usually made with a twill weave which is quite firm and therefore, it is not easy to force such a curve into the tape and when it is so forced, the tape tends to return to a straight shape as soon as the force is released.

The object of my invention is to provide an improved tape for this particular application which can be more easily forced into the desired curve and which will have a substantially greater tendency to remain in the curve when the force is released.

It is desired to retain all of the advantages of the iirm twill weave in that portion of the tape along the fastener elements. It is well-known that such a weave tends to resist wear of the tape by the slider in the region alongside the fastener elements and it has other recognized advantages. According to my invention, the inner portion of the tape is made with a twill weave and the outer portion is 4made with a different weave which is less rm and which is of such character that the warp threads or ends can shift slightly along the weft threads or picks and tend to retain the curve once the tape has been forced into a curved position. Although the tape has inner and outer zones of different characteristics, all of the weft threads or picks extend entirely across `the tape so that its manufacture is not complicated or prohibitively expensive.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown two embodiments which my invention may assume in practice. In these drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a zipper Stringer with a curve such as desired in trouser ies at the bottom end of the zipper;

Fig. 2 is a digrammatic view illustrating one embodiment of the invention; and,

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view showing a second embodiment.

The zipper Stringer may be defined as consisting of woven tape having a beaded inner edge 4 and fastener elements 5 attached to such beaded edge. The inner portion 6 of the tape along the beaded edge is of the usual twill weave while the outer portion 7 is of a different weave which may generally be described as less firm than the twill weave. The width of the less firm portion 7 is preferably equal to, or greater than half the entire width of the tape.

The tape illustrated in Fig. 2. is one which is adapted to be made only by a shuttle loom and it will be noted that in both Figs. 2 and 3, `the cords along the beaded edge are omitted to simplify illustration. The inner portion of the tape which has the twill weave is shown at 2,963,047 Patented Dec.\-6, 1960 the right. In this weave, each end oats over and under two consecutive picks and the interlacings move one sideward and one upward (or downward) on succeeding picks causingV formation of diagonal lines in the cloth where the interlacings occur.

Considering, for example, Athe end 8 at the lower right hand corner of the diagram, it first passes under two, then over 2 picks and whilertheinext end 9 steps up one pick before passing under two andV over 2, and so on, for thetsucceedi'ng ends. With this weave, it is noticed that there are no two consecutive picks between which the ends are not interlacing. The weave of the outer portion 7 may be described as 2/ 2 repeating every two ends. Considering first the end 10 at the lower left corner of the diagram, it passes over two and under two picks while the next end 11 passes under two and over two picks and the third end 12 repeats the end 10. Thus, the weave is much less firm than the twill weave since the ends interlace with the picks in a line straight across lthe tape parallel to the picks and no end enters the spaces indicated at 13 between every other pair of picks.

The result of this construction is that when a stringer with a flat woven tape is forced into a curve preliminary to the sewing operation, such as indicated at Fig. 1, less force will be required than if the whole tape were of a twill weave and further, the tape will tend to remain in such curve. This is for the reason that warp threads or ends can shift more readily along the picks or weft threads while the outer edge is being slightly stretched in assuming the curve. It is believed that in such slightly shifted position, they tend to retain the warps along the outer edge of the tape in such stretched condition at least long enough to assist greatly in the sewing operation when the zipper stringer is being sewn to the left fly of the trousers. It can be easily demonstrated how the warp threads in this type of weave can be shifted sidewise by pushing a pencil through such a weave.

The same principle applies to the case of the tape shown in Fig. 3 which is adapted to be woven on a needle type loom wherein the selvage edge 14 is formed by a knitting needle along the outer edge of the tape. In this case, in the twill weave shown on the right or outer portion of the tape, each end floats over or under four consecutive picks and the points of intersection move one sideward and two upward (or downward) on succeeding picks. On the other hand, in the less firm weave on the outer portion of the tape, the weave is 4/ 4 repeating every two ends. Here the shiftability of the ends or warp threads relative to the picks or weft threads is even more apparent than in the case of Fig. 2 because it is only between every fourth pair of picks that the warps intersect, whereas in the twill portion of the tape, there are at least twice as frequent intersections or interlacings.

It may also be noted that with this weave, the knitted selvage edge 14 is readily stretchable to accommodate the curve. It will thus be evident to those skilled in the art that the herein disclosed improvement in the zipper stringer for use on the left side of trouser zippers is of considerable importance in facilitating the manufacturing operation and the improved appearance of `the finished garment.

What I claim:

l. In a zipper Stringer of the type comprising a woven tape having an inner beaded edge and fastener elements attached to said beaded edge, the inner portion of said tape along the beaded edge being of a twill weave, the remainder or outer portion being of a less firm weave wherein the interlacings of the ends with the picks extend in lines parallel to the picks, all of said picks extending continuously across both inner and outer portions of the tape.

2. A zipper Stringer comprising a twill weave wherein each end floats over at least two and under the same number of consecutive picksand wherein the interlacings move sideward and upward (or downward) a number of picks lesser than said same number, the remainder or outer portion being of -a 1ess=rn1`weave where each end is over and under said same number of picks repeating every two ends with the interlacings extending in lines parallel to the picks, all of said picks extending continuously across both inner and outer portions of the tape.

3. A zipper Stringer as defined in claim 1 wherein the twill weave has each end oating overior under two con* secutive picks and the interlaciugs move one sideward and upward (or downward) on succeeding picks and in the less firm section the weave is 2/2repeating everytwo ends.

4. A zipper Stringer as dened in claim 1 wherein the twill weave has each end floating under or over four consecutive picks and interlacings move one sideward and two upward (or downward) on succeeding picks and in the less firm section, the weave is 4/ 4 repeating every two ends.

5. A zipper stringer as defined in claim 1 wherein the outer portion with the less firm weave is at least as wide as the inner portion of the tape.

lLosey May 28, 1929 Moore Apr. 2, 1940 

